Bringing the community together for teatime
Under the Tackling Loneliness programme and led collaboratively by Carterton Family Centre and RAF Brize Norton, ‘Teatime Club’ was initially awarded £70,000 to deliver a weekly ‘supper and activity’ session for military families from single parent households or families experiencing a deployment.
The Tackling Loneliness programme awarded grants that sought to reduce social isolation in Armed Forces communities. Since being funded by the Trust since 2019, the Teatime club has evolved into a crucial pillar of support within the RAF Brize Norton community.
The funding enabled the Unit’s Community Support team to expand their support to include a weekly supper and activity club for families with a serving parent away, or lone parents; and since February 2022 has introduced an extra monthly Saturday breakfast club. This expansion also facilitated the recruitment of three activity staff members dedicated to overseeing and implementing this new project.
Much needed support for families
RAF Brize Norton has 5,500 tri-Service military personnel serving on the unit, with more than 2,000 military spouses and children living within Service family accommodation with a high demand for family support provisions.
The sessions are delivered in partnership with local charity, Carterton Family Centre, to support and meet the high levels of engagement the Teatime Club has received since its launch.
RAF Brize Norton’s Community Development Officer, Jessica Price explained: “Our key achievement is the impact on the people who have engaged and against the programme’s priorities, we have achieved building stronger social networks, friendships and building on emotional resilience to overcome the cause of loneliness.
This is at the core of the Teatime Club. The staff who facilitate know that their role is to facilitate friendships and be a conduit to social networks that may start within at Teatime Club but reach far beyond.”
Building lasting friendships
The Project Lead regularly attends the club, engaging with families at least twice a month. During these visits, she consistently interacts with parents who share that they initially met through the project and have since formed enduring connections beyond the organised activities. This trend is particularly noticeable among those facing extended deployments exceeding four months. Individuals who started off as strangers at the club find themselves forging lifelong friendships by the time their partners return.
Loneliness presents a prevalent challenge within the Armed Forces communities due to factors such as geographical distance from family, transient lifestyles hindering friendship maintenance and the emotional strain of prolonged separation from partners.
The club emerges as a pivotal platform facilitating these vital connections, offering a space where individuals can establish enduring friendships. These relationships play a crucial role in combating feelings of isolation and contribute significantly to building emotional resilience by adapting a supportive network among peers.
Adapting a supportive network
Sgt Adam Carr, SNCO Air Movements Squadron at RAF Brize Norton said: “Whilst deployed on Operations overseas, the Teatime Club was a valuable asset that my children and wife used. It allowed them all to meet other likeminded families in a similar situation. With it routinely held on a Tuesday evening, it became a focal point that my children looked forward too. Enjoying the food and activities laid on plus the informal support of the workers helped them to process events from the previous week. This helped the children to speak openly about their week when I was able to phone home, as they always had fond memories of Teatime Club which they shared with me.
From a deployed Service Personnel point of view, it was a relaxing thought knowing that the pressure of entertaining and feeding the kids on at least one night of the week had been dealt with, easing the stress on my wife. Allowing her to finish her own civilian job, collect the kids from school and head straight to the centre safe in the knowledge that vital support was available.”
“Teatime Club with all that it offers the local community, is a credit to all involved.”
Sgt Adam Carr, SNCO Air Movements Squadron at RAF Brize Norton
Going from strength to strength
In April 2023, the Teatime Club achieved success in securing a continuation grant for its programme, ensuring seamless progress without interruptions between grants.
The project persists in providing a high-quality weekly supper and activity club catering to numerous military families where one parent assumes sole responsibility due to the other being deployed on operations. With the current heightened overseas demands and frequent short notice deployments of service personnel, the staff have experienced a notable surge in demand and active participation seeking this support.